Black Pearl Restaurant Guide 2025 awards 7 Hong Kong spots diamond ratings for first time

37 Hong Kong restaurants are on the Michelin-equivalent list published by Meituan, among them The Chairman – now a three-diamond-rated spot

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Smoked camphor goose at The Chairman. The Hong Kong restaurant earned a third diamond in the Black Pearl Restaurant Guide 2025 published by Meituan, which rates 37 restaurants in the city. Photo: The Chairman

Published: 6:15pm, 7 Jan 2025Updated: 6:36pm, 7 Jan 2025

The Black Pearl Restaurant Guide 2025, published by Meituan – China’s largest shopping platform – was unveiled at a ceremony held in the Chinese city of Nanchang on January 6.

Compared to last year, the number of restaurants selected in Hong Kong and Macau in the 2025 guide has increased. There are 37 Hong Kong restaurants and 17 in Macau.

In the latest guide, seven Hong Kong establishments were named one-diamond restaurants – equivalent to one Michelin star – for the first time. These include Chinese restaurants specialising in Cantonese cuisine such as Chinesology, Rùn, Stellar House and The Legacy House, as well as French restaurant L’Envol and Italian fine-dining venue Estro.

This is the eighth year that the platform has published the annual dining guide. According to official data from Meituan, searches in mainland China for Black Pearl-rated restaurants in Hong Kong and Macau increased by 30.1 per cent year on year in 2024, showing that mainland Chinese consumers want high-quality dining experiences in Hong Kong and Macau.

Translucent lotus root from Chineseology in Hong Kong. It has been added to the 2025 Black Pearl Restaurant Guide with a one-diamond rating. Photo: Chineseology

Another new entry is Sep – the only Vietnamese restaurant in the city on the list – which has attracted attention for its fusion of French techniques and Vietnamese characteristics.

The Chairman, a Cantonese restaurant in Central on Hong Kong Island, was upgraded this year from its previous two-diamond ranking. It is now one of only two restaurants in Hong Kong with a three-diamond rating, joining Howard’s Gourmet.